Open Source Software
Next time you need a piece of software for a new job, a project, or something else, try open source. What’s open source, you say? It’s free software. Free? Yes.
There’s a whole multitude of computer programmers out there that create software out the goodness of their heart. There’s a sense of rebellion from these programmers, aimed at the big, greedy software companies of the world.
The two programs I use the most are Firefox and NeoOffice. I’ve bragged on Firefox many times before on this blog. It’s an awesome internet browser that is constantly being updated and improved, fully customizable with plugins of your choice, and it’s standards compliant. That’s a fancy phrase that basically means, when I create a website, it renders correctly in Firefox. I usually have to make concessions for other browsers that aren’t standards compliant.
Today, I want to brag on NeoOffice. This program is only available for Mac users, but there are similar options available for Windows people - OpenOffice, for example.. The next time you think about buying Microsoft Office, or upgrading a copy you already have, give NeoOffice or OpenOffice a try. I’ve been very impressed with NeoOffice’s abilities. It can read and save files in Word format, it can read and save all Office files (Excel, etc.). I’m not a Microsoft Office expert, so I can’t speak for NeoOffice’s advanced capabilities. But, for a normal user that just needs the option of opening and saving Word or Excel files, it works great. There’s also a handy feature to save as PDF files.
How can you find open source programs? The easiest way is to type the kind of software you’re looking for, followed by “open source” into a Google search. For example: “audio recording open source.” This search would yield a find of Audacity - a great, free audio recording program. You get the idea, though.
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